Electrical characterization of epitaxial FeSi₂ nanowire on Si (110) by conductive-atomic force microscopy

We used conductive-atomic force microscopy (c-AFM) for electrical characterization of self-assembled epitaxial iron silicide nanowires (NWs) on Si (110). The NWs, 6 nm high by 10 nm wide and several micrometers long, were partially covered by a macro-gold-pad as one electrode. Another electrode is the conductive AFM tip. The resistance of a single FeSi₂ NW was measured to be 29.7 kΩ, corresponding to a resistivity of 150 ± 30 μΩ·cm. A Schottky barrier formed between NWs and silicon substrate was clearly demonstrated, which offers electrical isolation for NWs. An equivalent circuit model based on the Schottky barrier was proposed and was correlated with measurement results. This simple electrical characterization approach may find wide applications for various one-dimensional nanostructures.